Deprived

Chapter 12

A jarring sound tore through Maize's skull and yanked her out of sleep.

"Dang it! I was enjoying that dream." Her eyes popped open and she was assaulted by some sort of strobe light.

She jumped out of bed, wondering how she would turn off the sound and the lights, and as she planted her feet onto the ground, the harsh sound immediately stopped, and the flashing lights in the room ceased.

You would think the blaring alarm was enough, but no, they had to add the flashing lights—for special effects?

There must be some type of device buried in the floor that detected her activity in the room.

So much for privacy.

The only reason why Aberdeen and his agents wanted each person to have their own apartment was to make spying on them easier.

Some in the village believed the giant screens mounted in the village squares were the eyes and the ears of Wisteria. It made sense. Why else would they put an expensive piece of technology in a dump like her village?

Whatever Anna and the pink-eyed couple gave her yesterday was still up and running in her body. If she had to run five miles, she could easily run ten.

Gray light cascaded into the apartment. She walked over to the double windows and looked outside.

The sky was overcast and a light rainfall, almost undetectable, flowed lazily down.

The streets below were almost deserted. A bicyclist gliding along the road, then disappeared from her view like a bug.

A flying insect with intense blue wings fluttered about outside the window, just like the ones in the dream she was having about William before the alarm went off.

She dreamt they were both lying in a field overflowing with white flowers, flying insects with intensely colored wings fluttering above them. William held her hand in his, their fingers entwined. They weren't talking, though they didn't have to—they knew how much they loved each other.

When they crossed paths yesterday at the Oasis, Maize was sure she wanted William. Learning he was a Preppie put a damper on things for her, but there was something her nana always told her. 'You can't help who you fall in love with, Maize. Once love starts rolling down that hill, it's almost impossible to stop.'

Maize would say her love for William was halfway down the hill by now.

The comm device lying on the table lit up. The message was about the rainy weather and reminder to be considerate to your fellow citizens by giving aid if need be.

On the surface, the message sounded reasonable, but with deeper thought, Maize concluded that if these people had to be told when to be kind, they were in serious trouble.

She carefully examined the comm device. The face was indigo blue. It was the size of the wristwatch her nana gave her, the one she was forced to leave behind. Except hers had hands instead of white squared numbers. It was 6:15 am. Work was at 7:00 am.

Moving her thumb on the tiny screen, she saw Williams's name and a series of numbers next to his name. She touched it, and his name enlarged. Something was happening, and she couldn't get it to stop.

After a few seconds, she heard William's voice and looked around the room.

"Hello, Maize, are you okay? I'm on the comm device, in your hand."

Maize smoothed her hair with the palm of her hand. "You can see me?"

"I wish I could," he said.